Many Russian scholars have expounded Dostoevsky's religious outlooks, which are embodied in Petersburg's religious myths. Dostoevsky describes the fantasy of Petersburg in the hands of the devil, and he also adds a ...Many Russian scholars have expounded Dostoevsky's religious outlooks, which are embodied in Petersburg's religious myths. Dostoevsky describes the fantasy of Petersburg in the hands of the devil, and he also adds a lot of mythological colors in his diction. This article expounds the above idea from the angles of both mythological atmosnhere and mythological poetics.展开更多
The study traces Chinese poet LI Bai's eight poems about why none of these eight poems gets anthologized in Tang the mythical figure XI Shi and investigates the reasons Shi San Bai Shou ( 《唐诗三百首》), the most ...The study traces Chinese poet LI Bai's eight poems about why none of these eight poems gets anthologized in Tang the mythical figure XI Shi and investigates the reasons Shi San Bai Shou ( 《唐诗三百首》), the most popular poetry of Tang Dynasty anthology. Observations focus on the poems' departure from writing conventions, the poems' genre of huai gu (怀古), the general assumption that may block our understandings and evaluations of these literary works such as LI Po is clumsy at describing feelings and he shows signs of hasty composition and his risky experiments with the tonal effects.展开更多
This paper deals with the Mangal Kavyas of Bengal, folk epics arising out of an oral tradition practiced by rural women. The female deities to whom these epics are devoted, like the snake goddess Manasa, are also part...This paper deals with the Mangal Kavyas of Bengal, folk epics arising out of an oral tradition practiced by rural women. The female deities to whom these epics are devoted, like the snake goddess Manasa, are also part of the folk tradition, far removed from the Hindu pantheon of gods or the Vedic ways of worship and are related to the particular fears of village life. There is therefore, a de-mythologized version of these deities represented in these epics, a crystallization of the desires, wants, and ways of life of the rural population through the figure of the goddess, a version these village women can readily empathize with, making these epics rich in social documentation of contemporary village life.展开更多
The subject of this study is how pre-Islamic poets viewed religious beliefs and how the Arabs dealt with such beliefs in the period that preceded the emergence of Islam, known as the/ahiliyya. The study discusses Arab...The subject of this study is how pre-Islamic poets viewed religious beliefs and how the Arabs dealt with such beliefs in the period that preceded the emergence of Islam, known as the/ahiliyya. The study discusses Arab religious beliefs and rites, which were filled with mythical elements such as idol worship, treating some animals as sacred, and worship of the sun, plants, certain inanimate objects and birds. It describes the various stages through which these beliefs passed, from sanctification of trees and caves, through the worship of the sun and the stars, to idol worship and more. The study then proceeds to inquire into the traces of mythology to be found in Arabic poetry. It shows how humans did not only inherit their forefathers' beliefs, but also their ideas, and explains how poets were able to embody reality by means of artistic symbols that reflected such elements of their lives as emotions and objective mental states. Subsequently the study discusses the sanctity which the Arabs ascribed to some animals, and which they worshipped in the hope of obtaining a blessing, maintaining an intimacy with the animal or averting evil. Many Arabs in those days believed in the sanctity of animals, the sun, the moon and Venus, thought that trees and other p|ants possessed a spirit, and considered some animals to be deities with extraordinary powers, among them the viper, the crocodile, the bull, the gazelle and the goat. Finally, the study shows how pre-lslamic Arabic poetry can serve as a reliable document that reflects the society of the times, and how even the restricted amount of verse that has survived from those times can provide considerable information about mythical elements that go back to the remotest times.展开更多
This article compares two Latin poem dedications which may contain hidden sub-meanings and possible displays of a basic puzzle method called acrostics, each dedicated to the same nobleman. The Latin verse in 1579 by A...This article compares two Latin poem dedications which may contain hidden sub-meanings and possible displays of a basic puzzle method called acrostics, each dedicated to the same nobleman. The Latin verse in 1579 by Anthony Munday follows acrostic English poems and may refer to his patron as "a lover of Pallas Athena" (the Spear-shaker of Greek mythology). The Latin verse in Robert Greene's 1584 book may contain a Latin acrostic and appears to identify Cupid, the "winged Love," as a companion of the same patron as Munday's from five years earlier. That Cupid trope appears similar to "the little love god" allusions to Cupid in several of Shakespeare's sonnets (e.g., #s 153 and 154). More than these discussions, this article explores difficulties of translating from Latin into English, or vice versa, and the pitfalls which can occur.展开更多
文摘Many Russian scholars have expounded Dostoevsky's religious outlooks, which are embodied in Petersburg's religious myths. Dostoevsky describes the fantasy of Petersburg in the hands of the devil, and he also adds a lot of mythological colors in his diction. This article expounds the above idea from the angles of both mythological atmosnhere and mythological poetics.
文摘The study traces Chinese poet LI Bai's eight poems about why none of these eight poems gets anthologized in Tang the mythical figure XI Shi and investigates the reasons Shi San Bai Shou ( 《唐诗三百首》), the most popular poetry of Tang Dynasty anthology. Observations focus on the poems' departure from writing conventions, the poems' genre of huai gu (怀古), the general assumption that may block our understandings and evaluations of these literary works such as LI Po is clumsy at describing feelings and he shows signs of hasty composition and his risky experiments with the tonal effects.
文摘This paper deals with the Mangal Kavyas of Bengal, folk epics arising out of an oral tradition practiced by rural women. The female deities to whom these epics are devoted, like the snake goddess Manasa, are also part of the folk tradition, far removed from the Hindu pantheon of gods or the Vedic ways of worship and are related to the particular fears of village life. There is therefore, a de-mythologized version of these deities represented in these epics, a crystallization of the desires, wants, and ways of life of the rural population through the figure of the goddess, a version these village women can readily empathize with, making these epics rich in social documentation of contemporary village life.
文摘The subject of this study is how pre-Islamic poets viewed religious beliefs and how the Arabs dealt with such beliefs in the period that preceded the emergence of Islam, known as the/ahiliyya. The study discusses Arab religious beliefs and rites, which were filled with mythical elements such as idol worship, treating some animals as sacred, and worship of the sun, plants, certain inanimate objects and birds. It describes the various stages through which these beliefs passed, from sanctification of trees and caves, through the worship of the sun and the stars, to idol worship and more. The study then proceeds to inquire into the traces of mythology to be found in Arabic poetry. It shows how humans did not only inherit their forefathers' beliefs, but also their ideas, and explains how poets were able to embody reality by means of artistic symbols that reflected such elements of their lives as emotions and objective mental states. Subsequently the study discusses the sanctity which the Arabs ascribed to some animals, and which they worshipped in the hope of obtaining a blessing, maintaining an intimacy with the animal or averting evil. Many Arabs in those days believed in the sanctity of animals, the sun, the moon and Venus, thought that trees and other p|ants possessed a spirit, and considered some animals to be deities with extraordinary powers, among them the viper, the crocodile, the bull, the gazelle and the goat. Finally, the study shows how pre-lslamic Arabic poetry can serve as a reliable document that reflects the society of the times, and how even the restricted amount of verse that has survived from those times can provide considerable information about mythical elements that go back to the remotest times.
文摘This article compares two Latin poem dedications which may contain hidden sub-meanings and possible displays of a basic puzzle method called acrostics, each dedicated to the same nobleman. The Latin verse in 1579 by Anthony Munday follows acrostic English poems and may refer to his patron as "a lover of Pallas Athena" (the Spear-shaker of Greek mythology). The Latin verse in Robert Greene's 1584 book may contain a Latin acrostic and appears to identify Cupid, the "winged Love," as a companion of the same patron as Munday's from five years earlier. That Cupid trope appears similar to "the little love god" allusions to Cupid in several of Shakespeare's sonnets (e.g., #s 153 and 154). More than these discussions, this article explores difficulties of translating from Latin into English, or vice versa, and the pitfalls which can occur.